P006173 revised AU-VU:EOAS Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation

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 English AACR2 Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules Person created 2019-01-03 human Ken McInnes updated 2023-03-08 human https://www.eoas.info/biogs/P006173b.htm person Smith Leslie Walter AACR2 21 January 1928 16 December 2018 Place of Birth Shere, Surrey, England Place of Death Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Organic chemist Environmentalist Les Smith was a research chemist with the CSIRO, specialising in alkaloids in plants, to reduce the damage that pest plants caused to farm animals. His work to eradicate Patterson's Curse was controversial - farmers supported the work but bee keepers wanted to keep it as a source for honey. Prior to moving from England in 1953, he was a research chemist at the Westcott Rocket Research Laboratory, near Aylesbury, England. However Les was best known for his lifetime of voluntary environmental activism, protecting and educating the community about the value of remnant indigenous bushlands.

During the War, in England, traditional rambler's rights-of-way were fenced and closed. After the War, Les became active in cutting fences to restore these pathways.

From the 1960s he was involved with the 'Blackburn and District Tree Preservation Society' and served on the committee in many roles for well over fifty years. In the 1960s he was associated with the 'Save the Little Desert' campaign, the establishment of the 'Friends of the Little Desert' and the establishment of 'Conservation Council of Victoria' in 1969 (now known as 'Environment Victoria' ) and in 1973 was a co-founder of the Urimbirra Cooperative in the Wimmera that purchased bushland for conservation.

He also served on the Antonio Park, Yarran Dheran, and the Wandinong Sanctuary bushland park advisory committees in the City of Whitehorse, and was actively involved with the Bungalook Nursery (Whitehorse Indigenous Plant Project, formerly the Nunanwading Indigenous Plant Project).

Through the 1980s and 1990s he was involved in the campaign against the freeway through the Koornung and Mullum Mullum valleys, and the establishment of the Mullum Mullum Festival.

In 2017, in recognition of his community work, Les was awarded an Honorary Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to the environment.

1948 1948 Education - Diploma of Science, Imperial College of Science and Technology, London 1948 1953 Career position - Rocket Research Department, Department of Supply, Westcott, Buckinghamshire, England 1953 1953 Life event - Migrated to Australia from England 1953 c. 1990 Career position - Research Chemist, CSIRO 1961 1961 Education - Master of Science (MSc), University of Melbourne 1975 1975 Award - Nunawading Citizen of the Year 2014 2014 Award - Pride of Australia Medal (awarded by NewsCorp), for service to the environment 2015 2015 Award - Best Friend Award, Victorian Environmental Friends Network 2017 2017 Award - Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) - for service to the environment 'Smith, Leslie Walter', in Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, Centre for Transformative Innovation, Swinburne University of Technology Smith, Leslie Walter Swinburne University of Technology, Centre for Transformative Innovation Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Thesis: Some pyrrolizidine alkaloids from Australian plants Smith, Leslie Walter Some pyrrolizidine alkaloids from Australian plants University of Melbourne 1961 Journal Article: Les Smith, Best Friend Kaptein, Helen Les Smith, Best Friend Victorian National Parks Association 2015 Park watch 262 26